News

Planners ring the death knell for gated estates

THE planning authorities have declared “access all areas” on Ireland’s upmarket housing estates, dealing a blow to millionaires who try to keep hoi polloi at a safe distance from their homes.

Avoiding social exclusion is more important than reducing the risk that celebrities such as Ronan Keating and Georgina Ahern might be victims of crime, according to An Bord Pleanala.

The taoiseach’s daughter and Keating were among the rich and famous residents of a luxury housing development in north Dublin who declared “I’m a celebrity, get them out of here”, and applied for permission to put a 3m-high gate around the estate.

Turning down the application, which the residents made through a management company, the planning appeals board last week decided there should be an open-door policy at Abington in Malahide, a row of 50 houses each worth up to €3.5m. Residents, who also include David Drumm, the chief executive